Doing The Work: A Facilitation Guide

Here is a simple guide on how to do "The Work." Basically, what we are doing is using the following four questions and sub-questions to investigate a stressful belief - for example, "I am a pathetic loser." (Some of the sub-questions may not apply.)

1. Is it true?

(Close your eyes,be still, go deeply as you contemplate your answer.
If your answer is no, continue to Question 3.)

2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?

• Can you know more than God/reality?
• Can you really know what's best in the long run for his/her/your own path?
• Can you absolutely know that you would be happier if you got what you wanted?

3. How do you react when you think that thought? (When you believe that thought?)

• Where does the feeling hit you, where do you feel it in your body when you believe that thought?
• How far does the feeling travel? Describe it.
• What pictures do you see when you believe that thought? Watch it, be still, notice.
• When did that thought first occur to you?
• How do you treat others when you believe that thought? What do you say to them? What do you do?
• Whom does your mind attack and how? Be specific.
• How do you treat yourself when you believe that thought?
• Is this where addictions kick in and you reach for food, alcohol, credit cards, the TV remote?
• Do thoughts of self-hatred occur? What are they?
• How have you lived your life because you believed that thought? Be specific. Close your eyes, watch your past.
• Does this thought bring peace or stress into your life?
• Where does your mind travel when you believe that thought? (List any underlying beliefs, and inquire later.)
• Whose business are you in when you think that thought?
• What do you get for holding onto that belief?
• Can you find a peaceful reason to keep that thought?
• What terrible thing do you assume would happen if you didn't believe that thought? Write down the terrible thought, and turn it around to the opposite and test it for yourself - is the opposite as true or truer?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

• How would you live life differently if you didn't believe that thought? Close your eyes and imagine life without it.
• Imagine you are meeting this person for the very first time with no story. What do you see?
• Who are you right now, sitting here without that thought?

Turn the thought around.

(Statements can be turned around to yourself, to the other, to the opposite, and to "my thinking," wherever it applies. Find a minimum of three genuine examples in your life where each turnaround is as true as or truer than your original statement.)

• If you lived this turnaround, what would you do, or how would you live your life, differently?
• Do you see any other turnarounds that seem as true or truer?

The turnarounds allow you to see the best course of action for you.

The key to experiencing The Work is to go beyond the quick answers of the intellect and tap into a deeper wisdom. Ask, then be still and wait for an inner voice to respond. With practice, this will become easier. You will learn to rely on yourself—not the world—to see what's true for you.

Byron Katie